Shimla, Feb 27
The government should instruct managements of all private schools in the state to display the list of books, along with  names of authors/publishers on their website. Moreover books should be NCERT and SCERT approved, asserted the Student Parent Forum Himachal Pradesh
In a statement, convenor Vajinder Mehra said that the Director of Higher education should intervene to break the nexus between school management and middleman regarding sale of books through selective shopkeepers. He demanded that parents should get a chance to buy books from the shop of their choice and not otherwise.
Co-convenor Vivek Kashyap said that in the year 2014, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh had directed all the schools to make their own websites but most of the private schools did not follow the directive. This is in violation of the orders of the High Court.
They said that a few years back, Madras High Court had also passed an order to make education accessible to all. The basic spirit of the Right to Education Act 2009 and HPBOSE Act 1968, is also to ensure cheap and good education. They said that only cheap and quality books of NCERT or SCERT should be given to students in Himachal Pradesh. On the contrary private schools are deliberately forcing parents to buy expensive books in the name of quality so that the commission of private school managements could continue.
They also involve in making three books out of one book, thus reaping profit for private publishers up to ten times extra, they alleged. In the years 2016 and 2017, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh had passed orders to curb the business activities of private institutions. Section 2(1)(r) of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 also prohibits unfair trade practices.
They demanded implementation of the the various orders of High Court of Himachal Pradesh in letter and spirit wherein every private school should list books and their authors for the upcoming session on their website.
Noteworthy that, if names of publishers will also be listed on school website then all book shopkeepers can avail the opportunity to sell that product. In an an environment, where books will be available at multiple shops, the benefit of competition will get passed down to the parents, they reasoned.
Pertinent to mention that this forum has been raising such issues, time and again. However not much action, has been noted from the department of Higher education in this matter. Even the previous BJP government has promised to enact a regulation law to keep a tab on private schools, but it never saw the light of the day.
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